OPENERS: SUITS

OPENERS: SUITS; NOT ON SALE AT KMART

By Constance L. Hays

Published: July 18, 2004

Ever wonder what to do with evidence from white-collar trials? Thesmokinggun.com, a unit of Court TV, found an apt way to commemorate a particularly meaningful document from Martha Stewart's case. It printed part of Government Exhibit 123-C on a dish towel.

Specifically, it reproduced this message taken by Ann E. Armstrong, Ms. Stewart's personal assistant at the time: ''Peter Bacanovic thinks ImClone is going to start trading downward.'' Ms. Stewart sold her ImClone stock the day she received that message. She was convicted of lying to investigators seeking evidence of insider trading and sentenced on Friday to five months in prison.

William Bastone, a co-founder of thesmokinggun.com, said his wife, Barbara Glauber, dreamed up the idea. ''We'll have to start thinking about what kind of product to tie in to Ken Lay,'' he said. Constance L. Hays